As 2019 began, Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness sat down with me at City Hall to record a podcast interview, looking back on 2018 and looking forward to 2019. In the latter part of the past year, there were many developments announced.
One was the $157 million project to be undertaken by Browning Investments, including developments on the south side of 116th Street and on the north side just west of City Hall. The south side project will include a new headquarters building for First Internet Bank. A new hotel will also be a part of the plans.
Then there was the announcement of a new $14 million Hub & Spoke building on 106th Street near the planned Nickel Plate Trail. It will house several private firms and provide badly-needed training facilities for those pursuing a career in the building trades.
According to Fadness, a couple of new office buildings are coming to the Municipal Complex, including one already under construction near the library.
So, I asked the mayor what Fishers residents can expect in the way of new developments in 2019? His answer was interesting: Fadness expects his focus to be on creating jobs in the city in the coming year.
“You have to build the physical environment, and I think we have enough in the pipeline that will really change the trajectory of our city for the good,” Fadness said, “but now it’s really getting back to the blocking and tackling of recruiting companies, bringing more jobs to our city.”
Fadness points to vacant spaces around the city that could attract employers. The old Roche building, once a bank call center, visible from Interstate 69, is ripe for job creation, according to the mayor. He also believes the I-69 corridor will be ready for growth once The Yard is constructed.
The mayor did throw in one cautionary note: He has been proven wrong in the past when predicting real estate growth will stabilize in Fishers, but as he sees it now, his focus is on growing jobs.
The mayor also talked about the issues facing the commercial area of the city at 116th Street and Allisonville Road. The city had a plan based on Kroger’s original announcement to build a new store in the area, replacing the current one.
Now that Kroger says it will remodel the current grocery and not build the new facility, the city is back to the drawing board. Fadness says the city is working constantly on developing that area of the city, but timing is everything in allowing such developments to happen.
You can listen to my podcast interview with Scott Fadness earlier this month at this link.